Andrew and Jihi Bustamante aren’t your average married couple — they met inside the CIA and their romance played out under the shadow of espionage. In this gripping conversation, they reveal how they fell in love during training, the reality of life inside America’s most secretive agency, and how a mole within the CIA blew their cover. Love, lies, and life on the frontline of the new spy war. https://linktr.ee/BattleLines Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected] @venetiarai...
Sep 05, 2025•55 min
China's biggest ever military parade boasted sophisticated new weapons, thousands of goose-stepping troops, and a guest list designed to put the West on notice. The footage of Chinese President Xi Jinping walking in between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in particular was a clear message to the US, Europe and its democratic allies: Beijing now officially heads up a new world order of authoritarian states. Venetia is joined by former Russia correspondent Rola...
Sep 03, 2025•38 min
As the war for Sudan's Darfur region heats up, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are stepping up their brutal siege on the last remaining army stronghold of El Fasher, with new satellite pictures showing a wall being built around the northern city. The RSF have been accused of genocide for conducting a campaign of violence, rape and murder against Darfur's non-Arab communities. Famine has been declared in the region and millions have been displaced. To understand what is going on in El Fasher, Vene...
Sep 01, 2025•33 min
As the old cliché goes, the first casualty when war comes is truth. In the past week, Israel has denied that it has caused a famine in Gaza, accusing the UN-backed body behind the report of a “blood libel”, and killed five more journalists in a widely condemned double-tap attack on a hospital. It is part of a wider trend that has made getting to the facts of the war in Gaza difficult. To understand how a war on truth is being waged in Israel, Venetia speaks to UNICEF’s Tess Ingram in Gaza City, ...
Aug 29, 2025•48 min
How can Nato make itself future-ready? What are the biggest threats facing Western democracy? And what black swan event helped change the course of the First World War? To find out, Venetia chats to Dr Gabriele Rizzo, a defence futurist and foresight strategist whose job is to imagine different possibilities and help his clients prepare for them. He has years of experience working with the US Space Force, NATO, the Italian Government, the European Defense Agency, and the United Nations. In 2022,...
Aug 25, 2025•28 min
In his desperate attempt to win the Nobel Peace Prize, President Trump claims to have ended at least six wars around the world. But how does that stack up in reality? In this episode Roland Oliphant hears from Telegraph correspondents Adrian Blomfield and Sarah Newey alongside Caucasus expert James Kilner about Trump’s actual involvement, or not, in halting these conflicts and how likely it is that he’ll win the prize he seemingly covets above any other… Listen to our mini series on the rise of ...
Aug 22, 2025•32 min
Eighty years on from Victory over Japan day in 1945, the contribution of British and Commonwealth soldiers in a brutal battle against the Imperial Japanese armed forces is often overlooked. The fact that the dropping of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved the lives of many in prisoner of war camps is even less discussed. Featuring voicenotes from readers whose family fought in Asia and the Pacific, Venetia and Roland dive into this tangled history and reflect on the legacy they have...
Aug 18, 2025•45 min
As US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin get ready to meet in Alaska, there has been lots of talk about what Washington, Moscow and even Europe want from the historic summit. But what about Ukrainians? What do they want? To find out, Roland speaks to former Ukrainian defence minister and chairman of the Center for Defence Strategies Andriy Zagorodnyuk and veteran frontline soldier Max Kuzmenko . Plus, Ukraine: The Latest host Dominic Nicholls and acting deputy US editor Connor St...
Aug 15, 2025•40 min
Australia holds a unique position in global geopolitics - on the other side of the world but still very much a 'Western' country. To that end, Roland Oliphant speaks with former Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne about the delicate balancing act his country faces in dealing with an increasingly sharp-elbowed China; and whether President Trump will stand by the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact with Australia. Also in this episode, Roland looks at developments in Gaza. Nearly 200 journalists...
Aug 11, 2025•38 min
Nuclear weapons are back. This week, Moscow announced that it would no longer abide by the once hugely significant Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he had moved nuclear submarines towards Russia. From growing stockpiles in China and North Korea, to growing cooperation between the UK and France, the direction of travel is clear. As Japan marks the 80th anniversary of the devastating atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Venetia ...
Aug 08, 2025•46 min
Amid growing international outrage over an unfolding famine in Gaza, lack of aid supplies and the high death toll in the ongoing war, Israel is increasingly isolated on the world stage. Last week, several of Israel's major Western allies - the UK, France and Canada - set out a timetable for recognising a Palestinian state. In the following days, an apparently emboldened Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad both released fresh videos of hostages they kidnapped on October 7th, showing the two men i...
Aug 04, 2025•30 min
Will China invade Taiwan? If so, when and what signs should we look for that will show it is imminent? How exactly could Beijing seize the island? And what would the US do in response? These questions have been at the core of Indo-Pacific security concerns for decades, but in recent years, the threat has become more tangible - and the questions more urgent. In the final episode of this three-part series on China's military, Venetia Rainey looks at different analyses of whether Beijing is getting...
Aug 01, 2025•36 min
China’s military is not a real army - it’s the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party. Ideology is paramount and corruption is endemic. Plus, the People’s Liberation Army hasn’t fought a war since 1979. Xi Jinping calls it “the peace disease”. In episode two of this three-part series, Venetia Rainey looks at the PLA’s weaknesses and how the Chinese president Xi is trying to fix them, from endless purges of top generals to a specially built training centre in Mongolia and live-fire drills arou...
Jul 30, 2025•22 min
Dive into the strengths and weaknesses of China’s military and its remarkable transformation over the last few decades from obsolete to world-class in a new special series on Battle Lines. How significant is China’s military buildup? What does Xi Jinping’s ongoing purge mean for the People’s Liberation Army? And how likely is an invasion of Taiwan in the next few years? As the US pivots to the Indo-Pacific and the threat of a truly global war looms, understanding the evolving role of China’s mil...
Jul 28, 2025•24 min
What exactly is going on inside the Gaza strip? Amid growing reports of children starving to death and fears of full-blown famine, the international community appears to be becoming more critical of Israel. Roland Oliphant hears from a UNICEF staffer with recent on the ground experience in Gaza about why mass starvation is setting in - but is still avoidable. Tess Ingram shares the latest from the area and how it is now nothing short of a ‘hellscape’. Plus, in a dramatic escalation of tensions, ...
Jul 25, 2025•39 min
Amid growing speculation around China’s invasion of Taiwan, the island nation has held its largest ever military exercises. Fresh from reporting on live fire drills off the Taiwanese coast, The Telegraph’s Asia correspondent Allegra Mendelson shares the latest on Indo-Pacific tensions with Roland Oliphant. Also, Roland speaks to Neal Urwitz, close friend of the US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy - Elbridge A. Colby - to discuss the latter’s push to dramatically refocus America’s military m...
Jul 21, 2025•37 min
Donald Trump—never one to shy away from controversy—has done another dramatic U-turn. After flatly refusing to send any more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, he’s now decided to send them anyway. So what’s changed? And why do these missiles matter so much? Let’s cut through the noise. Are Patriot missiles genuinely game-changers on the battlefield, or are they just a powerful symbol in modern warfare? To get to the truth, we’re speaking to someone who’s actually been there—Air Marshal Edward Stringe...
Jul 18, 2025•51 min
General Sir Patrick Sanders has a stark warning: Britain must prepare for war with Russia within five years and start building bunkers and better air defences. Speaking exclusively to our Defence Editor Danielle Sheridan, the former head of the British army points to the Nordic countries and says we need to start taking a leaf out of their book. He also discusses why an Iron Dome couldn’t work in the UK, his thoughts on the recent Israel-Iran war, and why he didn’t encourage his son to join the ...
Jul 14, 2025•50 min
US President Donald Trump has called out Vladimir Putin's "bullshit" and appears to be getting ready to back major US sanctions against Russia. Could this be the end of Trump's soft spot for the Russian dictator? Venetia chats to veteran army officer and chemical and nuclear weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon about what might happen next and why we can't trust either Trump or Putin. They also discuss Russia's campaign of chemical weapons in Ukraine, the dangers of not supporting Syria's new...
Jul 11, 2025•49 min
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets American President Donald Trump to try to hash out a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, a new Middle East is emerging from the ashes of years of war. Iran's nuclear programme has been bombed, Syria's new leader is re-establishing diplomatic relations with the West, and the Gulf is considering normalising relations with Israel. Roland talks to journalist Adrian Blomfield about how people across the region feel about these tectonic shifts and why Is...
Jul 07, 2025•53 min
Last week, the Pentagon unveiled a jaw-dropping $47.3 billion plan to supercharge its fleet with 19 brand-new battleships. That’s right— nineteen . Up from a paltry five last year. And let’s not kid ourselves: this isn’t just about flexing maritime muscle, it’s a direct message to China—loud and clear. Enter Commander Tom Sharpe, a man who’s not only been there and done it, but practically wrote the manual. A retired Royal Navy heavyweight who’s commanded four warships and earned an OBE for savi...
Jul 04, 2025•47 min
In this bonus episode, something a bit different: a special dispatch from the Swedish island that has become a Nato bulwark against Russian aggression in the Baltic Sea. Although all troops were removed in 2005, Gotland Island has since been remilitarised and is now home to the Swedish Armed Forces’ newest outfit: the Gotland Regiment. The troops are charged with protecting this hugely strategic Baltic outpost from Russia - and they are clear-eyed about the threat Moscow once again poses in nort...
Jul 02, 2025•38 min
For several weeks, two Chinese aircraft carrier battle groups have been conducting unprecedented drills in the Western Pacific, sailing further from Beijing than ever before. What message is China trying to send to the world and what can we learn about its Navy’s capabilities? Venetia chats to RUSI's Philip Shetler‑Jones, who specialises in Indo-Pacific security. Plus, a rare journey through Gaza with UNICEF's chief spokesman James Elder and a look at an explosive story accusing Israeli soldiers...
Jun 30, 2025•45 min
This week in Trumpland: Trump bombed Iran on Saturday, declared its nuclear programme "obliterated" by Sunday, shrugged off Iranian missile strikes on Monday, and by Tuesday had single-handedly forced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel—only for it to nearly collapse hours later. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he turned up at the NATO summit in The Hague and strong-armed allies into a staggering 5% defence spending target, all while barely mentioning Ukraine. Was this the art of the deal or the...
Jun 27, 2025•45 min
The United States has just pulled off one of the most audacious bombing campaigns of the 21st century — attacking Iran’s nuclear sites in a stunning show of military might. The Pentagon is calling it a surgical strike. Donald Trump? He’s calling it a “obliteration.” Either way, it’s one hell of a moment in global history. But this didn't come out of nowhere. This is part of a full-blown war that started just ten days ago, when Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran. Since then, it’s been chao...
Jun 23, 2025•49 min
Israel and Iran are trading missiles. A hospital’s been hit. Thirty injured. Israel’s fired back — hard — targeting Iran’s nuclear sites. Inside Iran? Chaos. Power’s out. Hackers hijack state TV, urging revolt. And Donald Trump? He’s green-lit Pentagon war plans — but is holding fire. For now. We’ve got The Telegraph’s best on the ground: Sophia Yan in Beirut, Paul Nuki in Tel Aviv, and David Blair in the studio. Lebanon’s on edge. Israel’s braced. And the big question — will Trump strike? Or le...
Jun 20, 2025•39 min
In a bumper, bonus edition of Battle Lines, we are talking to Iranians themselves, those both inside and outside the country, pro and anti regime, to get a sense of how the nation is responding to these missile strikes, what the war could mean for both the regime and ordinary people, and what comes next. Emotions on the ground and among the diaspora are running high, and the stakes are even higher. Israeli strikes have hit targets across the country, in populated parts of Tehran and other cities...
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr 8 min
It’s day four of Israel’s relentless bombing campaign against Iran, and the death toll is spiralling. Iran says 224 of its citizens are dead. Israel reports 24 lives lost and over 500 injured in a barrage of Iranian retaliatory strikes. And this war is only just getting started. The Israeli airstrikes have gone far beyond nuclear sites. Government buildings, intelligence headquarters, the ministries of justice and foreign affairs—obliterated. Tehran is being shaken to its core. Is this really ju...
Jun 16, 2025•47 min
This episode was recorded before the strikes on Iran — a major development we’ll be discussing in detail in Monday’s episode. Los Angeles has descended into chaos. A wave of ICE immigration raids has sparked mass protests, violent clashes with police, and nights of looting, fires, and fear. Now, President Trump has overridden Governor Gavin Newsom using a little-known legal loophole to send in the National Guard — and Marines are on the way. The move has ignited a fierce political battle between...
Jun 13, 2025•54 min
On today’s episode, we confront the brutal realities of two of the world’s most controversial flashpoints. First, our man on the ground, Jerusalem correspondent Henry Bodkin, joins Israeli troops in Gaza for a rare and eye-opening embed. He takes us inside the tunnel where Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar was allegedly hiding before an Israeli airstrike on May 13th — one that struck the entrance of the European Hospital, sparking outrage and headlines around the world. We cut through the noise and g...
Jun 09, 2025•40 min
